TOMS RIVER – The vaunted Big 3 of the Manasquan High School girls basketball team is just about the most dynamic trio of players one could ask for on a high school basketball court. Senior Dara Mabrey and juniors Faith Masonius and Lola Mullaney dominate on a routine basis and scored 82 of the Warriors’ 95 points on Sunday.

But it was an unsung hero who helped save the Big 3 and the rest of the Manasquan squad in the state title game at the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena.

Senior guard Carly Geissler drained two clutch three-pointers in a row and drew a gutsy charge at the other end of the floor to stop an unrelenting Newark Tech rally in the second half as the Warriors held on for a 95-79 victory over the Terriers in the Group II final, a game that was played at a blistering pace.

The victory marked Manasquan’s (30-2) fifth straight group title and sends the Warriors to the Tournament of Champions for the fifth consecutive season.

Geissler simply did not want this dominant run to end in a disappointing and shocking upset. The unsung hero, often lost in the frenzy and hype surrounding the Big 3, has quietly been an integral part of this program for four straight years. She doesn’t need the attention, but she got it anyway on Sunday.

“I say that I really don’t care about the media attention, and I really don’t, I’ll do whatever I have to do for the team, if that’s getting an assist that no one sees, I’m totally fine with that, and I have been for the past four years” Geissler said. “To have the state championship, your entire high school career and Dara Mabrey’s high school career on the line, someone had to stop them in their tracks.”

The Big 3 scored all 47 of Manasquan’s first half points as the Warriors jumped out to a 16-point lead. But the Terriers came roaring back in a scoring bonanza and eventually closed the gap to five points late in the second half. Newark Tech forward Mariah Perez scored 15 points as Masonius cautiously played with three fouls.

Then Geissler performed her theatrics. Her two three-pointers pushed the Manasquan lead to a more comfortable cushion, but her drawn foul may have been more important. The senior jumped into the lane and prepared her body for the inevitable contact. The referee blew his whistle and emphatically pointed the other way as Manasquan regained possession with an 80-67 lead and 5:15 to play.

It was the momentum swing the Warriors desperately needed. The Terriers were seemingly unstoppable, but Geissler put an end to that. The Warrior bench and Manasquan-heavy crowd erupted.

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Manasquan celebrate their championship. Manasquan Girls Basketball vs Newark Tech in NJSIAAGroup II final in Toms River on March 11, 2018(Photo: Peter Ackerman)

“Once she hit the first one, she was blossoming with confidence, and when she let that second one go, I was booking it back, it was going to go,” Mabrey said. “When I see that confidence in her, it’s a game-changer because then she went to take the charge against the player that was a lot bigger than her.”

Mabrey finished with a game-high 35 points while Mullaney scored 27 and Masonius added 20 of her own. The trio that operates like a scoring machine was firing as efficiently as ever in the first half.

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Manasquan’s Dara Mabrey waits for an opening to shoot during first half action. Manasquan Girls Basketball vs Newark Tech in NJSIAAGroup II final in Toms River on March 11, 2018(Photo: Peter Ackerman)

Just those three players alone are enough to beat most teams in the state. But when a player like Geissler has her signature moment in the state title game, the Warriors are nearly impossible to top.

“When other players are doing that outside of me, Faith and Lola, it’s great, it’s another spark that the other team has to handle,” Mabrey said. “They didn’t expect her to do that. You have to make other teams respect you. She was the X-factor tonight.”

This is exactly where Manasquan wanted to be after setting its preseason goals in the preseason. After falling in two straight TOC finals in devastating fashion, seniors like Mabrey and Geissler are salivating at the opportunity to take home another TOC title after bringing the trophy to Monmouth County during their freshman years.

“Like I said to them before the game, I said that it’s my last year here, and we’re going to the TOC, there’s no doubt about it,” Mabrey said. “We’re making the final six teams, and no one is going to come down here and take that title from us. Everyone just fed off that energy.”

Group IV final

Franklin 70, Toms River North 30

The Toms River North High School girls basketball team made it further in the state tournament that most outsiders expected them to, but the Mariners’ Cinderella run came to an abrupt end on Sunday.

The Mariners (28-4) ran into defending Group IV champion Franklin in the group final and fell 70-30.

After junior point guard Brielle Bisogno hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating lay up to lift the Mariners in the South Group IV semifinals, Toms River North upset top-seeded Cherokee 41-34 in the sectional final after falling to Cherokee at the buzzer in last year’s title game.

The Mariners have a bright future as core members Bisogno, Jenna Paul, and Kristina Johnson are set to return next year.